Marquette University Athletics
MU To Face Pittsburgh Friday Night In BIG EAST Semifinals
3/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The No. 24/25 Marquette University men's basketball team makes its first-ever appearance in the BIG EAST Championship presented by Aeropostale semifinals Friday night when the squad faces Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. CT. The No. 6 seed Golden Eagles and No. 7 seed Panthers will battle for the right to play for the tourney championship Saturday night against Georgetown or West Virginia. ESPN will feature Marquette's 16th national television broadcast of the campaign, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Len Elmore (analyst) and Doris Burke (sideline) calling the action. MU defeated PITT 72-54 at the Bradley Center on Feb. 15 in the only regular season meeting between the two programs. Marquette leads the all-time series 6-4, but the Panthers did end MU's tourney run in 2007.
Tournament History Provides Mixed Results
Marquette's conference affiliations date back to the 1989-90 campaign, making the program's postseason tournament experiences rather limited in number.
The Golden Eagles are 15-17 overall in league tourneys, competing in events associated with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA and BIG?EAST Conference. MU's lone title came in 1997 when the squad claimed four victories en route to the C-USA Tournament Championship. Marquette is 3-2 all-time in BIG EAST action.
Marquette has earned the No. 6 seed for the second-straight season. In 2006-07, MU defeated No. 11 St. John's 76-67 before falling the next night to No. 3 Pittsburgh, 89-79.
The Golden Eagles concluded the regular season tied with West Virginia for fifth place, but WVU's victory in the only meeting between the two programs secured the No. 5 seed for the Mountaineers.
Hillcrest High School Alumni On Display Against Irish
Hillcrest High School in suburban Chicago features a pair of alums on the Golden Eagle roster and Thursday night against Notre Dame the duo of Jerel McNeal and Maurice Acker made its alma mater proud.
The tandem combined to contribute 39 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in the 89-79 victory. McNeal netted a career-high 28 points and each of Acker's 11 points came in the final eight minutes of the game.
McNeal was the 2006-07 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and Acker claimed the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year award in 2005-06 while with Ball State.
Tourney Action Takes Golden Eagles Coast-To-Coast
While Marquette is making its first-ever appearance in the BIG EAST semifinals, the squad does have experience playing on three-straight nights in a tournament format.
The Golden Eagles participated in the 2007 EA?Sports Maui Invitational Nov. 19-21, facing Chaminade, Oklahoma State and Duke on successive nights en route to a championship game appearance.
